TYPES OF AIR CONDITIONER EQUIPMENT

Window and through-wall units

Room air conditioners come in two forms: unitary and packaged terminal PTAC
systems. Unitary systems, the common one room air conditioners, sit in a window or
wall opening, with interior controls. Interior air is cooled as a fan blows it over the
evaporator. On the exterior the air is heated a s a second fan blows it over the
condenser. In this process, heat is drawn from the room and discharged to the
environment. A large house or building may have several such units, permitting each
room be cooled separately. PTAC systems are also known as wall split air conditioning
systems or ductless systems. These PTAC systems which are frequently used in hotels
have two separate units (terminal packages), the evaporative unit on the interior and the
condensing unit on the exterior, with tubing passing through the wall and connecting
them. This minimizes the interior system footprint and allows each room to be adjusted
independently. PTA systems may be adapted to provide heating in cold weather, either
directly by using an electric strip, gas or other heater, or by reversing the refrigerant flow
to heat the interior and draw heat from the exterior air, converting the air conditioner into
a heat pump. While room air conditioning provides maximum flexibility, when cooling
many rooms it is generally more expensive than central air conditioning.
Evaporative coolers
In very dry climates, evaporative coolers, sometimes referred to as swamp coolers or
desert coolers, are popular for improving comfort during hot weather. This type of
cooler is the dominant cooler used in Iran, which has the largest number of these units
of any country in the world, causing some to refer to these units as Persian
coolers. An evaporative cooler is a device that draws outside air through a wet pad,
such as a large sponge soaked with water. The sensible heat of the incoming air, as
measured by a dry bulb thermometer, is reduced. The total heat (sensible heat plus
latent heat) of the entering air is unchanged. Some of the sensible heat of the entering
air is converted to latent heat by the evaporation of water in the wet cooler pads. If the
entering air is dry enough, the results can be quite comfortable; evaporative coolers
tend to feel as if they are not working during times of high humidity, when there is not
much dry air with which the coolers can work to make the air as cool as possible for
dwelling occupants. Unlike air conditioners, evaporative coolers rely on the outside air
to be channeled through cooler pads that cool the air before it reaches the inside of a
house through its air duct system; this cooled outside air must be allowed to push the
warmer air within the house out through an exhaust opening such as an open door or
window.
Portable air conditioners
Portable air conditioners are movable untis that can be used to cool a specific region of
building in a modular fashion, not requiring permanent installation. Most portable air
conditioners are refrigeration based rather than evaporative and it is this type that is
described in this section. All refrigerated type portable air conditioners require exhaust
hoses for venting. Through this process of air intake, cooling and venting, air is
continually cycled through the unit until the room reaches the desired temperature
setting. Also, the refrigerant works to not only cool the air but also dehumidify air in the
room, owing to the temperature decrease in the air which results in the saturation of
the water content of the air, causing condensation when the air is returned to the room.
The air will therefore be left without this ional water content. The water loss rate is
sufficienty high to require collection or drainage. The exact conditions for the
condensation of the water from the air can be estimated using a Psychrometric chart for
air at room pressure.